Qatar smiles upon Sébastien Loeb Racing once again – after Mehdi Bennani’s win there last year, the Soultz-sous-Forêts team made its mark this year with Tom Chilton’s masterful win in the Opening Race. With a fifth place in the second race, the British driver claimed the WTCC Trophy and climbed on the third step of the Championship podium in one fell swoop. This superb performance, in the face of many outstanding drivers, reinforces the SLR success in winning the WTCC Teams’ Trophy, a result which was already a given since Macau. For his part, Mehdi Bennani came in second of the first race on his teammate’s heels after a gripping fight, and was a contender for the WTCC Trophy until a collision at the start of the final race of the year blew his chances out of the water. The Moroccan driver nevertheless remains on the podium, a well-deserved result within this independent drivers’ category. John Filippi, the Corsican driver in the Alsatian team, also made a significant contribution to this festival of a performance from Sébastien Loeb Racing – fourth in the Opening Race, he equalled his season’s best from China, a clear sign of his relentless progress throughout the year.
“It’s been a fantastic weekend, things couldn’t have gone any better!” Tom Chilton enthused. “We’d really worked on the car to make it faster and faster beforehand, and every time we raced, she performed even better. In the first race, we had a very exciting fight with Mehdi, a proper fight but very clean and fair and I came out on top ultimately. In race 2, there was an incident during the first lap which damaged my C-Elysée, but I managed to get to the end in fifth place, and second for the WTCC Trophy. Overall that’s a third place in the Championship, and winning the WTCC Trophy – it’s a dream come true! Going to Paris for the FIA prize-giving gala is an absolute honour. Big, big thank you to everyone at SLR for their unwavering support, to my parents and to my sponsors, this wouldn’t have been possible without them all.”
“I was proud to end the first race in second place,” Mehdi Bennani explained, “because this meeting in Qatar is an important event for the Arab world. And the fight with Tom was truly epic! Unfortunately a collision took me out right from the start in the second race, so I couldn’t defend my chances all the way to the end for the WTCC Trophy. That’s disappointing, we lacked results a few times over the year, but that’s sports. The championship was a real competition throughout, and the team and I never gave an inch, that’s what I’ll take away from this year.”
“I was hoping to reach the podium for the first time in this competition in the Opening Race,” analysed John Filippi, “I truly wanted it to be my gift to the team, but I didn’t have a solid start. From then on, it was a complicated task, but I fought relentlessly to keep this fourth position. With a ninth place in the second race, it’s been a positive weekend overall. I would have liked to perform this well throughout the year! The good point is that the past fourth events have been very positive, I was in control and comfortable with my C-Elysée. It really bodes well for the future!”
“Needless to say, this final event has been an emotional rollercoaster for us!” rejoiced Dominique Heintz, co-founder of Sébastien Loeb Racing along with Sébastien Loeb himself. “An outright victory in Race 1, crowning glory in the drivers’ WTCC Trophy, and a third place in the World Championship for Tom, we couldn’t hope for better! I would only have liked for Mehdi to be able to fight till the end, and John deserved a first podium after his huge progress. But neither of them gave up, and Tom was sterling. I am especially proud of the whole team, without whom our drivers couldn’t have signed such performances. Now a few days’ rest are in order, before getting back to work promptly to do even better in 2018!”